Read Zomblog 05: Snoe's War for Free Online Page B

something to write with in order to keep track of the events as they unfolded. (That is a wish that I am both happy and sad was fulfilled for reasons that you will see later. I had no idea what was happening, or what I had set in to motion with my escape. Had I known…dear God, had I only known.)
    That first night was exciting…initially. By a few hours after dark, I was cold and miserable. It was sometime in November by now and the weather was awful. I was grossly unprepared for being out in it and had to take shelter in a filthy, rundown trailer that was just out in the middle of nowhere. The only thing good that I can say about the place is that it kept me mostly dry.
    I was awoken once in the middle of the night by something pawing at the outside of the trailer. I knew it wasn’t a zombie because of the noises being made. I didn’t dare look, but in the morning I found deep furrows in the siding made by what had to be a pretty big bear.
    As the sun came up, I oriented myself and headed east. It would take two days to get back to Sunset if everything went okay. I should have known better.
     
    ***
     
    It was still early, not even noon yet when I realized that I was being followed. Since all I had for a weapon was a baton, I knew that I was in no position for any sort of fight with anything beyond a single zombie. And when it came to the living, I had even worse odds.
    I started to wonder if maybe the soldiers that had met up with our little invasion force had continued the search for me. Whoever they were, they were trying not to be seen, but they were not letting that stop them from tracking me as I traveled through the morning and late into the day.
    I was at a stream filling my one small canteen that I had been equipped and nibbling a small portion of apple. Judging by the texture, I would not want to ration out my remaining two slices much longer. Since I was nearing what had once been a populated area, I was following the ridgeline and deciding where I would go look for a place to spend the night. I could have travelled another few hours, but I was not all that familiar with the region, and therefore, unsure as to how far before I would reach another area that would offer up someplace to stay.
    One of the things in the EEF manual about being out in the wilderness is that if you are alone, it is always preferable to find someplace inside to stay at night. Walkers are only a concern in large numbers when it comes to being trapped in a house or other structure. Since it is unlikely that you would be drawing any attention to yourself, a house is a perfectly acceptable place to camp for the night. A two-story location is ideal; simply find the hatch that opens to the crawlspace above the ceiling.
    I spotted a location that looked promising and started across a large, open field. The grass was at least waist high and so I was being careful to keep an eye out for creepers. Maybe I was too focused on the ground and that is what allowed a dozen people to surround me and get within few yards from me before I even noticed that they were there.
    “Can’t say that I seen too many Travelers around these parts lately,” a man’s voice snapped me back to being aware of my surroundings. I cursed myself for my carelessness.
    “Don’t look like no Traveler, she ain’t carryin’ no weapons, ain’t even got a proper pack. Looks to me like some fool kid runnin’ away from one of the colonies,” a woman added with a laugh that sounded more mean than anything else.
    I kept my mouth shut. One thing I learned that they didn’t exactly teach in an EEF manual was that if you kept your mouth shut, most folks would keep talking because they did not like silence. Something about quiet made people nervous. Or at least talkative.
    “She’s carrying one of those metal clubs,” a younger woman said. “Only seen them on those soldiers that been comin’ through. And she’s wearin’ all that gear like those idiots. I think she’s